The RALtoday team got a sneak peek of week 2 of this year’s Art in Bloom exhibit at the NCMA — and we haven’t stopped thinking about it since. If you didn’t snag tickets to the last weekend of this sold out exhibit, or if you want a preview of what not to miss when you go, check out what we saw.

NC florists design installations inspired by art pieces in the West Building of the museum + the works sit in front of their corresponding paintings throughout the galleries. The NCMA uses a lottery system to assign each florist their inspiration piece.

We spoke to Diane Makgill — a Raleighite + former docent at the museum — who was assigned the painting Forward by Jacob Lawerence, which depicts Harriet Tubman helping free enslaved people. Diane felt a special connection to this painting, because the Quaker community played a role in assisting the underground railroad and Diane is a Quaker herself.

Florist Diane Makgill and her installation | Photo by RALtoday

She spent 221 hours needlepoint stitching the chains in her installation, and was at first perplexed by how to recreate the broken chain seen in nearby painting Harriet Tubman by Aaron Douglas. After noticing her puppy had been quiet for a little too long one evening, Diane discovered that the puppy had chewed the end of her chain leaving it frayed — the perfect breaking point.

Florist Adanna Omeni of 1Blossom 2Bloom Floral Design in Louisburg participated in Art in Bloom for the first time this year. After making this her full-time job during the pandemic, Adanna said she decided to participate because her motto for 2021 is “Why not?”

This weekend will also include a Triangle Pop-up Market in front of the East Building on Sat., June 12 and an Art in Bloom tent in the Museum Park Theater Saturday + Sunday.